Before
by AnimeWolfGirl16
Summary: Mika didn't quite understand why he was here in the first place. They said this was to be his new home, but he already had one… Series of One-shots revolving around Mika's time at the orphanage before Yu comes there.
1. Getting There

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, places, etc. in Seraph of the End. It all belongs to their respectful owners.**

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Getting There

Mika just stood there, not quite sure how to react or what to do. The adults said that this was supposed to be his home now, but Mika didn't quite understand why. He had a family; they just didn't always get along. The cuts and scrapes still stung from being thrown out of the car. A reminder to him of what his parents were like. Despite all the pain they inflicted on him, they always came back for him.

 _Maybe not this time though…_ He thought as he thought about how long he had been here. A few days had passed by and his parents still hadn't come back for him.

 _We're a family and families stick together, right?_

There were six other children already living here along with an adult watching over them. They all seemed to get along, but Mika figured that he shouldn't get close to them since his parents would come any day now and take him home. If he made friends, it would just hurt to leave them here since he might not get time to see them.

"You ok Mika?" He looked over towards the voice to see a girl with brown hair pulled back in a braid that was the same age as he was.

"Yeah... um…" He couldn't remember her name since he wasn't trying to make friends. It's not that he didn't want to, no he would love to have friends, he just didn't know if his parents would take the time to bring him back to see them.

"Akane. Remember, silly?" She smiled and he couldn't help smiling back after nodding.

 _She just so friendly that it's almost contagious…_

He was surprised a bit when she grabbed his hand and started to drag him into another room.

"We're drawing so why don't you come join us." She phrased it more as a statement and he couldn't help starting to think what he would want to draw.

 _Maybe a dog. Mother and father never let me have any pets so I think it'd be ok even if it wasn't real…_

They rounded the corner to see the younger kids at the orphanage already absorbed in their drawings. He noticed that there were various drawing materials; pens, colored pencils, markers, and even some paint.

 _That's more than we have at home…_

His excitement took over at that point, since he would get to work with different materials than he normally did. He quickly took a seat at the end of the small table, with Akane sitting beside him. Pulling over a piece of paper, as well as giving one to Akane, he was about to start drawing before he realized that he didn't know what type of dog to draw. He had seen other types of dogs around the area that he lived, but never actually gotten to know them.

 _Do I make a small, medium, or big dog? Then there's the color of the fur and eyes…_

He finally decided on a big dog with golden fur and big brown eyes.

 _That way we can snuggle and be best friends…_

He at first started drawing with a pencil before quickly erasing his lines and going over them in yellow marker. This was then accompanied by golden and yellow streaks for the dog's fur with a soft brown being added for the dog's eyes. Before long, the dog was finished and Mika was wondering if he could draw another. It was fun being able to mix different materials; it also helped to make the dog more realistic, at least in his opinion.

He looked over at Akane, who was still on her first drawing, and he decided to watch her draw for a while. There was no point in rushing to draw something, might as well give himself time to think up more ideas first. He had time before his parents came to pick him up anyways.

 _But it would be nice to have friends…_

* * *

 **Welcome to the first chapter of "Before". So all of you might have noticed that the first chapter doesn't mention Yu, but that's because this is before Yu came to the orphanage. So this fanfiction is going to be a series of one-shots revolving around Mika's time at the orphanage. I'll start out weekly but depending on demand, I might update quicker. Also if you have any ideas on what you want to see happen in this fanfiction, please let me know in a review and I'll try to fit it in. Hope you all enjoyed reading the first chapter and until next time, have a great day!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	2. Siblings

**AnimeWolfGirl9:** Thanks for being the first reviewer! Mika is around seven years old when this fanfiction happens, so that it still coincides with the anime timeline.

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Siblings

They had planned to go outside the next day. That hadn't happened because it had rained so all of the kids, including Mika, now found themselves building tents and forts out of old blankets and pillows. They had used the furniture as the main frame and were currently tying the blankets to the chairs from the kitchen.

 _This is certainly different…_

Mika pulled harder on the cloth that he was tying, glancing over to see Akane moving from each knot to check if it was strong enough. He looked back to the task at hand, before leaving go, encouraged when it didn't fall to the ground immediately.

At home, Mika didn't have other kids to play with. Most of the time he would have to avoid his parents to even draw, hiding in his closet with a small light on. He had once asked his parents if they had wanted to play with him, but this had been declined rather roughly. Mika knew after that experience that his parents must have just been too busy to play with him.

 _Yeah that has to be it… I mean… they're gone all day and sometimes all night as well so they must be pretty tired…_

Despite this thought, there was still a small amount of doubt in the back of his mind. He looked over to see Akane praising one of the younger children for their good work, with the supervisor watching them, a smile on her face.

 _But is that really the way parents act? Couldn't they be just a bit nicer?_

Mika shook his head and smiled, figuring he could ask them when he got home. They must just be too busy right now to come and pick him up. Plus it allowed him time to play with the other kids as well.

 _Maybe it's a gift from them for the times that they didn't play with me. A 'sorry' for a while…_

Mika stepped back to allow Akane to inspect him knot, pleased when she smiled at him. She hesitated for a minute before wrapping her arms around Mika, giving him a hug. For a moment he was too shocked to respond.

 _Is this what families do?_

She stepped back, a bit of confusion on her face.

"Is something wrong?" Mika knew that she must have been confused by his reaction, but he couldn't help it.

"What was that?" Mika asked without thinking first. He felt his face heat up when Akane looked at him in surprise. The other kids were also staring at him wide-eyed.

"T-that was a hug Mika…" There were a few seconds of awkward silence and Mika couldn't really think.

 _A hug?_

He heard someone stand up and glanced over to see the supervisor looking concerned at him. He knew that she was going to make her way over here to talk to him so he put a smile on his face and forced a laugh.

"Right, a hug. That was silly of me to ask. Don't think anything about it."

Akane just nodded at this before the tension in the room seemed to dispel as kids were suddenly asking Akane if she would turn the small TV that they had situated in front of the tent on. Mika couldn't help but smile at this, everyone just seemed so excited. One of the younger girls, Ako if he remembered her name correctly, pulled on his hand to sit down next to her under the tent. He gave another smile before complying, noticing how Akane was still watching him worriedly. He gave her a reassuring smile, before turning back to look at the TV when Ako gestured at something on the screen.

Despite it being mostly static, there was some color and what looked to be a picture of a kitten and its daily adventures. Mika knew this must be a kids show due to the simplicity of it but the other kids enjoyed it so he couldn't help smiling as well.

 _It's definitely different…_

He looked back to see all of the kids enamored by the TV, all gazing happily at the kitten and it's simple yet pleasant life.

 _If this is what siblings are like, then it would be nice to have some…_

* * *

 **Hello to everyone again! Here is the second chapter so far. Now some of you might be thinking 'It's not like Mika to not know what a hug is' and in some ways I agree but this is how the chapter turned out. Not much is known about any of the children's pasts so I just have to go off what I already know and improvise the rest. Please let me know what you all thought in a review! Have a nice day until next time!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	3. Still Waiting

**Shadechu Nightray:** I have to agree with you on that one. :) Although so far, since this is a Mika-centric fic, there will just be hints of the others backstories but I have yet to decide whether or not to delve into deeper detail.

 **AnimeWolfGirl9:** Thanks for the review! I completely agree with you. Mika needs to talk more about his problems.

 **mafernanda-09:** Glad you like it!

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Still Waiting…

He had been here a week…

 _Not that I mind… it's just that they've never left me alone this long…_

Mika was currently sitting on the bench near the front door, wondering if his parents were even going to show up. For the first few days he hadn't worried as much, but as the time got longer, he started to glance towards the door before making his way to sit near it. Despite the fun activities that the other kids were doing, he didn't want to miss his parents coming in to get him.

 _Maybe they came earlier but saw that I was playing and didn't want to interrupt…_ Mika thought, trying to convince himself that that must have been it. He glanced towards the room where the other kids were. He hadn't bothered figuring out what today's activity was, instead getting up early to sit by the door.

 _I mean, they could come before breakfast, after lunch, or even after dinner…_

Mika felt doubt hit him again before he quickly shook his head, trying to dispel it.

 _But why not before now…_

He was drawn out of his thoughts by footsteps, and when he looked over he saw Akane standing there, looking uncertain. He smiled in greeting and then patted the spot next to him.

"The activities not as fun today?" He asked, trying to make it a joke as she sat down but she just shook her head.

"The other kids keep asking if you'll come play with them but they don't want to bother you if you're busy."

"Oh…" It was all he could think to say as a bit of grief and pain went through him.

 _They must think that I'm ignoring them…_

Mika smiled at her before glancing back at the door.

"Well… you can tell them that I'll come play soon. I'm just waiting for someone." He saw a look of doubt and pain flash on Akane's face before she spoke.

"Your parents?" Her voice was little more than a whisper, but in the quiet space with just the two of them, he could hear her like she had said it in a normal volume. He shook his head before looking back towards the door.

"Yeah I mean… I know they haven't come before now but that wouldn't stop them from coming today." Akane stayed quiet as he continued, he didn't bother to see her reaction. He knew what it would be since she had given it to him many times when they talked about his parents. "I mean… we're family and they wouldn't just leave me here, right? Families stick together no matter what…" He felt his voice trail off, not quite sure whether or not he believed himself.

 _We are family right? I mean, I know they're not always the best, but they're my parents. They wouldn't just abandon me…_

He felt Akane shift next to him, before she put her hands on his shoulders and turned him so that he was facing her. Her face held pity but also determination.

"Mika… I don't think they're coming back." He moved to tell her that she was wrong, before she stopped him by holding up her hand.

"I'm not saying that they might not eventually but for now… this is your home."

"But…" He felt himself wince, not quite sure what she was implying. They would come back for him, they were family… The more he thought about it, what Akane was saying made sense.

 _I mean… they threw me out of the car…_

He felt a sob trying to emerge, so he tried to hold it in before he felt small arms around him. He looked to see Akane hugging him, tears streaking her own face.

"We've all been through it, some worse than others, but things will get better."

He felt tears streaking down his own face and he hugged her back, not quite sure how to react. He had cried before, mostly when he was in pain or being yelled at, but no one had ever made it seem like it was ok to cry. It was new, comforting. They stayed like that for a few minutes, neither wanting to make a move. Mika felt himself losing consciousness, most likely due to the earth-shattering development. The last thing he heard did help to ease the pain, even by just a bit, before he fell asleep.

"We'll be your new family and we'll always be with you."

* * *

 **So is it ok to write a fanfiction and cry at the same time? I'm not sure, but I just seem to put characters through so much emotional stuff lately… Glad to see that quite a few people really seem to like this idea so far. :) If you have any ideas on things you want to see, feel free to let me know! Please review and until next time (most likely Friday), have a great day!  
-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	4. Changes

**AnimeWolfGirl9:** Akane is great like that isn't she? She's always there to support the other members of her family. :)

 **Shadechu Nightray:** This chapter is a bit less angst for you. :)

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Changes

Things changed for Mika now that he had accepted the fact that this was his new home. For the fact, he now didn't have parents, just siblings but the love that they gave him was a lot more than his parents had. Things were easier now, he didn't have to worry about getting in trouble or beaten. About what his parents would be complaining about that day and how he would be the catalyst for their pain.

 _But despite this… it still kind of hurts…_

Just because his parents had different ways of dealing with Mika, it still didn't mean that he didn't love them. On the contrary, although they were cruel, they had still taken care of him, raised him, and he still felt gratitude for them. In Mika's mind, it was impossible to not love someone, despite how much they hurt you. His new family didn't always share his thoughts, but that was ok with Mika. They would understand when they got older.

 _I'll have to help teach them…_

He smiled at this, before looking over at Akane who was sitting beside him, watching the younger kids play.

 _She took that entire burden on herself since she was the oldest. Now she has someone who can help her…_

She had opted to take turns with the younger kids, although they didn't know like Mika did, that she planned to allow them to play outside all they wanted, even if she didn't get to. Mika was content to watch and help her clean up the mess of paper from their previous craft. Normally it was just drawing and coloring but today was making a collage with different colors of paper. Not that you could really tell what each collage was supposed to be, they were little kids after all but that was what made each of them special. Each picture meant and looked something different to each kid.

Lately, Akane had helped the supervisor cook meals, learning the skill. She always tended to make Mika taste it before serving it to the other kids, always nervous that it wasn't good enough. Mika was happy to comply, if it meant being with his family more, then he would do anything.

 _Well maybe not anything… but pretty much anything…_

Mika found himself more willing to do stuff that he normally wouldn't if it made his family happy. He had once crawled under a bed to get a stuffed animal that had fallen, the younger kid being too afraid to crawl under it themselves, worrying that a monster might be hiding under the bed. He found himself laughing at the thought.

 _Monsters don't exist. They're just a part of stories to scare children._

He startled a bit when Akane stood up, waving to get the other kids attention. He looked back to the kids, who still had smiled on their faces, with some catching their breath after running around in the grass.

"Why don't I get lunch ready and Mika can read you all a book?"

Despite her asking, Mika knew that the other kids would happily comply. Storytelling was the other thing that the kids loved, Mika often diverging from the story's path to change elements of the story, making it more appealing to the younger kids. He smiled at the kids running towards the opening, moving back so that he wouldn't get run over.

"Which one do you want this time?" He asked, once they were all inside. Each kid quickly took a seat in a circle, leaving room for Mika to sit near the middle so that all of them could hear. Taichi raised his hand and Mika nodded to let him know that he could ask his request.

"How about the one with the vampire queen?"

Mika never understood why kids were always so fascinated by this story.

 _Must be because they don't answer all the questions…_

Mika knew from reading some of the other children's books about vampires that they were normally ruled by a male vampire, not a female one.

 _Come to think of it… this is the only one so far that I've come across that has a female vampire mentioned…_

Mika always tried to make the end interesting. It never really stated what had happened to the female vampire, which made Mika slightly curious. His mind was always making up different endings to the character's story. He quickly went over and picked up the book before sitting back down and opening to the first page.

"Once upon a time…" He began, watching the other kids faces fill with excitement as he began.

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 **Another chapter is here! :) Happy graduation to all the 2015 seniors this year (me and AnimeWolfGirl9 included)! Please let me know what you thought of the chapter in a review! Until next time!  
-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	5. Panic

**Shadechu Nightray:** So this chapter is a bit darker than the ones that we've seen in the past due to me revealing a bit of what Mika could have went through. Now clearly this is just what I made it up to be from what details I could get about his past, so it might not be 'correct' if they ever release Mika's actual childhood past. And yes, I guess you could say that Krul had a cameo appearance last chapter. :)

 **AnimeWolfGirl9:** Story time is always a favorite of the kids. :)

 **Jechu (Guest):** I'm glad you like the story so far. Hopefully you'll like this chapter as well! :)

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Panic

Mika hadn't been prepared for the sudden flashback this time. Normally they bothered him while he was sleeping, making what was supposed to be a time of rest, into one of uncertainty and fear. Luckily none of the other kids had been woken up during his nightmares, but this always left him feeling more alone. There wasn't really anyone to talk to at that late in the night, and he hadn't been able to get to sleep, often spending hours at a time trying to snap himself out of his panic induced-state.

 _It's just a dream… you're not really there and it's not happening…_

He would often tell himself this to try and calm himself down, but it wasn't working as quickly as he would have liked. Sometimes he was kept awake all night, getting up earlier than any of the other kids to do some menial task to prepare for the day. Luckily he had been able to hide his tiredness by trying to make his new family happy. It had been working so far, but now the dreams had begun to add his new family into them as well.

This time Mika and Akane had been in the kitchen cutting vegetables for the kids snack. The main meal was to be made an hour later, with the supervisor stating that she had to go get some groceries to make the food. She seemed happy to leave Mika and Akane in charge of the younger kids, trusting them to make sure nothing went wrong. He hadn't expected himself to cut his finger on the blade and the more he thought about, he wondered how he could have been so careless…

It was the blood that bothered him more than the blood and knife, bringing back images of his first home, his parents, and gleaming knife. He had quickly tried to hide it, to snap himself out of the memory, to little success. Pain was always a constant with these memories, reminding him of how his life used to be before coming here.

 _Mika had been cowering in his closet, trying desperately to lock his door before bundling his clothes against his closet door, trying to keep it shut. He hadn't meant to break the vase, it was just an accident. But accidents always came with a punishment; to 'teach him not to do it again' was what his parents had told him. He wished that they would have just scolded him, but this wasn't the case. Each time it was different, they never injured him enough that he had to go to a hospital, just enough to make sure he didn't do it again._

 _He felt panic grip him as he heard a key and the shaking of the locked door. His parents kept a key to his room for emergencies, but Mika knew they used it for more than they should. Emergencies were in case the house was on fire or there was a burglar in the house._

 _He scooted closer to the wall when he heard the door slam open, wishing that he could just close his eyes and wish himself somewhere else. He knew that they wouldn't leave him alone until he was punished, no matter how long it took. There wasn't anywhere he could hide that they wouldn't find him…_

 _He flinched when bright light entered the closet and he felt a rough hand grab his arm. Desperately he clawed at the door, trying to hold onto something to keep himself from being dragged out. This was punished with a hit to the head, leaving him a bit disoriented._

 _Tears filled his eyes as the grip only tightened and dragged him towards the kitchen. The blurred out form of his father could be made out dragging him while his mother's form was visible standing in the doorway to the kitchen. He tried to drag his feet, but it did little to stop him from being dragged into the kitchen. He couldn't stop himself from hitting his side against the cabinet as he was suddenly thrown against the floor._

" _I-it was an accident…" His voice was a little more than a whisper, as he felt fear seize him. No matter what he said, it wouldn't stop what the punishment was. His mother's voice was cold and scolding._

" _Yes but we told you that accidents meant punishment so you won't do it again."_

 _He couldn't stop shaking as his mother opened the kitchen drawer, pulling out a knife of all things. Surprise and utter terror hit him; this wasn't what they normally did! He felt tears spring from his eyes, trying to back up further despite the cabinet. He knew his father was here to make sure he stayed put, besides there wasn't anywhere he could escape to anyways. His mother studied the knife for a moment before coming towards him…_

"Mika!"

He snapped back into reality when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking through tear-stained eyes, he briefly made out the form of Akane before he took off running towards the bathroom. Maybe running water would help him calm down…

He slammed the door shut and quickly turned on the faucet, trying to resist the urge to vomit.

 _It just seemed so real…_

He sank to the ground, trying to only listen to the running water, before he heard a quiet tap on the door. He didn't bother looking up, he knew it was Akane. She had been the one who witnessed it after all…

"Are you ok?" He heard her timid voice ask, feeling as she sat down beside him. He shook his head, not trusting his voice to work. Things always seemed to be out of sorts after a flashback like that.

"Does that happen a lot?" He didn't quite know how to respond so he just stayed quiet.

 _If by a lot you mean every night, then yes. Although if you mean during the day then no…_

He felt her arms encircle him once again, pulling him closer. He opened his eyes to see her looking down at him concerned. She seemed to study him for a moment before her eyes softened a bit.

"You haven't been sleeping, have you?"

"No…" He answered, wincing when his voice sounded raw. It was as if he hadn't talked for days, but he knew this wasn't the case. She pulled him closer at this, almost as if to protect him from whatever was causing him pain.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I'm fine." He pushed himself away, trying to put on a smile. She didn't seem very convinced at this though because a second later she grabbed his hands, keeping him from moving farther away.

"You need to stop trying to take the entire burden on yourself." He felt surprise enter him at this. Not the fact that she had said it but the fact that she was so concerned. "We're your family now so you can talk to us."

She glanced back towards the hallway that lead to the other rooms in the building, where the kids were playing.

"Or even just me. Some of the younger kids would understand but it might be easier since we're the same age…" She stood up, frowning at the blood that was dripping down his finger. She slowly reached into the medicine cabinet, washing the wound with some water first before turning the faucet off, and grabbing a band aid. She quickly slipped it on before smiling a bit up at him.

"If you ever need to talk, even if it's the middle of the night," She had silenced him when he was going to protest, saying that she needed her sleep. "Just wake me up, ok?"

He nodded, not quite sure that disobeying her was a good idea. She smiled at him before leading him back to the kitchen.

"Now why don't you boil the water while I cut, ok?"

Mika was more than happy to comply with this. Nothing with water would cause his flashbacks and he didn't think he could take more than one at the moment anyways. It was just too exhausting. He glanced towards Akane as she hummed, quickly slicing the vegetables into small slices.

 _This family isn't like my old one… they won't ever hurt me._

Mika came to make a promise that day, one that would affect the rest of his life.

 _I won't allow anything to harm them either._

* * *

 **So this one is definitely a bit more angst than the other chapters so far but it had to happen. The chapters from now on out might be out of sequence but eventually I'll make a chapter timeline and post it at the 'end' of the fanfiction for all of you who want to know when these stories take place. Hopefully you all don't hate me for what Mika had to go through with his 'old' family. Please review and let me know what you all thought! Until next time!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	6. Fear

**Shadechu Nightray:** Yes he does. I love writing Akane being supportive. She's just like that but it really is fun to write. :)

 **NightLegacy:** Glad to know that you like the story so far. :) I'm planning on putting lots of fluff into the story so far.

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Fear

It was a thing that most kids in the Hyakuya Orphanage, as well as around the world were familiar with: fear. Every kid had things that scared them or things that they were afraid would come true. Some kids were afraid of the dark, others thunder and lightning, but some had those fears that were deeply rooted into them.

For Mika it was that his old family would come and take him away. Sure he had been here for a little over a month, but that didn't mean they still couldn't come and shatter his reality again.

 _I'm never going back with them._ He decided content with the way things were now.

He had talked with Akane about his fear and she had told them that they all at one point or another had the same fear. It would get better with time, but for now the best you could do was try to ignore it. That had worked for a bit but then a new fear had begun to take root.

 _What happens if I lose this family like I did my last one?_

Mika knew this was less likely to happen since the way he lost his family last time wasn't actually his fault. It was more that his parents hadn't wanted him anymore. His new family would never feel that way about him. Despite all this though, it was still a constant thing in his mind. Sleeping had gotten a bit better but sometimes he still had to wake Akane up and talk about it. This of course always made him feel better but he still felt bad.

 _She shouldn't have to deal with my problems as well…_

He started to bottle things up again, trying his hardest to not wake her up even when he needed to talk. Some small part of him wondered if he should talk to the supervisor about his fears, but she didn't know him as well as Akane.

 _Besides, she hasn't gone through what we have…_

He knew that sooner or later Akane would take notice of his behavior; she always seemed to know when something was off with Mika. Luckily she hadn't taken notice yet, the other kids often demanded her attention and she happily gave it to them, giving Mika more time to contemplate his fears.

He knew that in some sense, they were a possibility. Leaving wasn't the only way that he could lose them… There was also another fear that went along with losing his family, one that was deeply rooted into his promise.

 _What if I fail to protect them? What if it's somehow my fault that they leave?_

He knew that this wasn't very likely to happen but it was still deep in his mind. Akane had finally started to notice when one day; Taichi had tripped onto the road just as a car had sped by. Mika had panicked and broke down crying, all of his fear coming loose. Sure it hadn't been his fault but he couldn't bear of thought of losing anyone else.

After that, Akane had had another talk with him, sitting him down in the room that they all shared while the younger kids were read a book by the supervisor. She had sternly reminded him that he was supposed to talk with her about it before giving him a brief hug and reassuring him that Taichi was ok. She told him that Taichi often got into trouble but that nothing really bad ever came of it. Despite the talk, Mika had still felt unsure, thinking one last thought before he recomposed himself and leaving the room.

 _Is it really so wrong to worry about your family so much?_

* * *

 **So I'm sick but luckily I have the next chapter prewritten so that shouldn't delay updating. Hope you all are having a great summer so far! Please let me know what you thought of this chapter!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	7. What Not to do

**AnimeWolfGirl9:** That's fine. I understand that you're busy as well. :)

 **Shadechu Nightray:** Will do! It is regretful that Ferid is so important to the series or else I would have figured out a way for Mika to kill him by now…

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What not to do

Mika had been surprised to say the least when he had walked in to find the younger kids making a craft. It wasn't the fact that they were making the craft that bothered him, but what the craft represented that did.

"You're doing what?" He asked in surprise as the younger kids stared at him in excitement. Kouta had been the one to answer him, his eyes only briefly glancing up towards Mika before back down at his project.

"We're making figures of our past families." Mika could only tilt his head at this, curious as to why.

 _I thought we were trying to forget them, not keep them in the present…_

"But why?" He asked before glancing towards the kitchen. Akane was currently helping the supervisor make small sandwiches and some cookies. She had seemed to be spending a lot of time in the kitchen lately but Mika knew this was due to her love of cooking.

"We're thinking up all of the ways that we could get back at them!" He glanced over at Ako in horror. She must not have known the severity of what she was saying, or doing for that matter.

"Get back at them? Why would you want to do that?" He partially knew why, but he had never once thought of trying to inflict pain on his past parents. It was just too unspeakable of a crime to commit to Mika.

"Because it'll make us feel better! You should try it too Mika!" Taichi had been the one to answer, prompting Mika to look towards him. The kid had already formed a body and head out of the paper, and was starting to draw faces on them.

"No! It's wrong!" All of the kids stared at him in shock and confusion, innocence dancing in their eyes. They were too young to understand but vengeance wasn't a good thing.

"But why?" He turned towards Fumie, who looked on the verge of crying at Mika's harsher tone. He sighed before walking over to her, slowly lowering so that he could look her in the eyes. He laid his hands on her shoulders before looking around at all the other kids.

"It just isn't right. Despite all that they may have done to you, wouldn't you rather forget them than make yourself suffer by reminding yourself of them?"

 _I know I would…_

"But… we're not suffering…" He tilted his head towards Taichi, knowing that despite the craft being 'fun' for them that they just wouldn't understand yet. This made Mika feel as if he needed to explain it to them.

"No? Think about it, each time you remind yourselves of your past family, what does it bring up?" He moved his gaze to meet each of them in the eyes, before they all looked down at the ground. "Not happy memories, just pain."

He looked towards the kitchen, a bit surprised that Akane hadn't yet come out.

 _She must just be really busy…_

"The happy memories that we have now are with our new family. Despite all that your old family might have done to you, it's best to just leave them in the past, not constantly bring them into your future."

He could see understanding in some of the kids' eyes as they looked back up at him. He smiled reassuringly before walking over to the craft table, starting to rearrange some of the shapes that the kids had cut out.

"So no partial voodooisming your past family. Instead, use your creativity to have fun with your new one." He held up the circle and a few straight lines, what used to be a head and arms and legs, with now created a sun. Some of the younger kids giggled before Ako raised her hand. He nodded his head towards her to let her know that he was listening.

"What's partial voodooism?" He felt his skin flush, not quite sure how to explain this to kids as young as them.

"Well… it's like…" Some of the younger kids laughed when he couldn't find the right words to say.

"What's this about partial voodoism?" He glanced towards the doorway to see Akane standing there looking confused. He could only shrug when she glanced towards him and he held up the pieces of paper. Understanding dawned in her eyes and she came to sit over.

"Just know that it's a bad thing for now." She looked sternly down at the younger kids while they nodded, letting her know that it wouldn't happen again.

Mika smiled before getting an idea, one that would impact what each kid would do as they came to live here with them. Families had rules, and some just needed to be obeyed.

The next day, Mika had sat all the kids down in a circle around an art easel that had a list on it. This was so that the kids could know what was not permitted in their family. Number one on the list was to not partial voodoo your family.

* * *

 **So this idea was actually created by AnimeWolfGirl9 and I think she's planning on mentioning it later on in what she's working on, so high-five for her. :) I hope you all had a great weekend so until Friday!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	8. Birthdays

**Shadechu Nightray:** Glad you liked the chapter! This one is more family fluff! :)

* * *

Birthdays

Mika had never really thought that birthdays were a thing to be celebrated. It had never seemed that big of a thing with his parents so normally the day went on as usual. Needless to say, he was quite confused when Akane and the younger kids all yelled out 'surprise!' early the next morning.

 _What's the 'surprise' for though…?_

He could only stare at Akane in confusion, wondering what was going on. She seemed just as confused as he did, although most likely for a different reason. Mika wasn't quite sure how to react to the surprise. Nothing like it had ever happened at home…

He glanced around the room to see it decorated in bright colors, with streamers surrounding a banner that had 'Happy Birthday Mika!' on it. More confusion hit him after that. He hadn't told anyone that today was his birthday, so how could they have known?

 _Unless my parents told them…_

He immediately shook the thought away, knowing that it was unlikely. His parents weren't going to come and tell when Mika's birthday was if they hadn't bothered to come see him before now.

 _That's fine with me though._ He thought, although there was still a small flash of pain at the thought. He glanced down when he felt someone grab his hand. He looked to see Akane standing in front of his, worry in her gaze.

"Are you ok?" He nodded, glancing around at the decorations again. The other kids seemed to be standing around, not quite sure how to react.

"What's the occasion?" He asked, seeing confusion enter into Akane's gaze before she glanced back at the banner.

"It's your birthday, right?" He nodded again, watching as the other kids went to grab a few books, most likely to try and read by themselves. They had taken up trying to teach themselves but still had Mika read to them most of the times.

"Yeah… so?" He couldn't quite understand what was so important about it. Today was just another day so why did they have to celebrate it? He glanced back towards Akane to see the worry back on her face. She glanced around before leading him to the side of the room and sitting down. He followed her example, knowing that she was probably going to teach or explain something. This seemed to be happening a lot lately…

"Well…" Mika noticed how she bit her lip in concentration, trying to explain what the surprise was for. "Birthdays are important."

He was about to protest and say that they weren't but Akane stopped him with a look. He quieted down before listening as she continued.

"If you weren't born, then we wouldn't have gotten to meet you, right?" He nodded, still a bit confused as to why they were celebrating though.

"But why-?" She held up her hand to cut him off and he quickly stopped his question, knowing that she would try and explain, even if she didn't always have the answers.

"Because you're here and we're happy that you're here..." She trailed off a bit before letting out a laugh. "I'm not explaining this very well, am I?"

He shook his head, smiling as a little bit of what she had said leaked into his head.

"It kind of makes sense, although I don't expect you to have all the answers." She smiled at this and Mika couldn't help but smiling back. He looked over to see the younger kids glance at them every few seconds. Knowing that this meant that they were waiting for something, he leaned towards Akane.

"What are they waiting for?" He whispered, despite the fact that the other kids could clearly see what they were doing. Akane looked at the younger kids in confusion before recognition lit up in her eyes.

"Oh! There's a cake!" Mika looked at her in confusion.

 _A… cake?_

She saw his confusion and stood up, with him quickly following her as she walked towards the kitchen.

"It's a kind of dessert. I normally don't make them unless it's someone's birthday." She walked into the kitchen and pointed towards one of the counters. "See?"

He glanced over to see a two layer 'cake' with what looked like clouds on the top. He knew from what Akane had been teaching him that this was called 'icing' although he couldn't help but wonder why there was so much of it on the cake.

 _Maybe decorations?_

He leaned closer to see the words 'Happy Birthday Mika!' written on the top, with a border going around the outside of the cake. It was simple, and yet Mika couldn't help but think that it meant so much. He glanced back at Akane to see her smiling, tucking a small strand of hair behind her ear.

"I know it's not the best, but I think you'll like it." He couldn't help smiling at her enthusiasm.

"Anything you make is good." He stated, before turning back to study the cake.

 _It's different than what we normally eat…_ He thought back to his younger siblings and how excited they seemed in the other room. _This must be why…_

"We are sharing this, right?" Akane only laughed at this and Mika couldn't help feeling his face heat up a bit.

"Of course we are silly." Mika looked behind him to see that Akane had glanced back into the other room when they both heard a small crash. Luckily it seemed that no one had gotten hurt, most likely meaning that a stack of books had fallen over.

"Do you want to eat it now?" Akane asked before walking over to where Mika was standing. He nodded, feeling excitement enter him as he wondered what cake tasted like.

 _Akane said that there were different flavors…_

She laughed before picking up the plate with the cake on it and walking towards where the other kids were.

"Well then, let's get this party started!" Mika smiled at this before following her out to the other room.

* * *

 **I hope all of you have had a great week since the last time I updated. This chapter was fun and yet slightly hard to write. Who knew that I would have trouble describing cake even though I bake it so much… Either way, please let me know what you thought of the chapter and see you on Monday!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	9. Snow

**Shadechu Nightray:** More in this chapter although it is a lot shorter than I would have liked it to be.

* * *

Snow

The weather had constantly been changing as the days got colder. Leaves that had fallen a few months ago were cleared away, leaving the trees and ground uncovered. This was the case until one day when the children of the Hyakuya looked out to see the ground covered in snow.

For Mika, it wasn't anything different than what had happened in past years, other than the fact that it was the first snowfall with his new family. For some of the younger kids though, it was the first time they had seen snow. For a few moments, some of the younger kids didn't know how to react to the scene. The only thing they must have noticed was that the air was a lot colder than it was the previous night.

Mika knew that they would probably head out after breakfast, so he went to fetch the spare winter clothes. If they didn't dress properly then they could get sick…

 _We can't have that…_

Breakfast was eaten quickly and the kids were all dressed when they finally opened the door to the background. For a while, the kids just stood there until Akane prodded them out, reassuring them that it wasn't dangerous. The ground was soft underfoot and crunched under all their weight.

Mika took in the sight, not used to just standing around and looking at the snow. Most of the times, he had been in his house while the snow fell and when he was outside it was only if his parents had to take him somewhere. He had never actually gotten to play in the snow…

Some of the younger kids had quickly gotten into the spirit and had started to throw snow around. Mika smiled before kneeling down in the snow, grabbing a handful and letting it fall, before starting on his project. Building a castle was harder than he thought. Snow had kept falling down and he found out he had to pack the snow hard onto the ground to make it stay. The other kids had come over to help some while ago and there was at least a frame structure by the time everyone had to go in for lunch. Mika knew that they would continue later but he couldn't help smiling at their creation.

 _It's like a new home for all of us._

* * *

 **So yeah this one's really short this time. I would have liked to make it longer but there was only so much I could write before it started to feel not real. Just to warn you all, I only have a few more chapters that I have created to post before the 'ending' so if you want to see anything let me know. Otherwise, I'll end up posting the epilogue and everything after it will just be extra. Have a nice week!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	10. Music

**Shadechu Nightray:** Your idea has been written! :) It's actually a great edition to the story too!

* * *

Music

One thing that had always fascinated Mika was what Akane called 'music'. He hadn't heard anything like it before coming to his new home.

 _My parents never had any… at least not that I know of…_

The closest Mika could compare it to was when his parents had yelled at each other. When he had told Akane this, she had shaken her head and stated that that wasn't music.

Akane had said that there were many forms of music, although one that he often noticed was that she seemed to hum. When he asked her about it, her face had lit up in embarrassment.

"It's just something that I like to do while working."

Mika couldn't help but agree. It gave you something to do to make work fun. He had asked her to teach him, although he found that it was harder than he thought it would be. That had been a few days ago and Mika couldn't stop asking questions about humming.

"But what do you hum?"

Akane only laughed as they sat on the porch while the younger kids played.

"Anything. It can be a song, a tune, or just something you make up." He nodded, still quite confused.

 _How do you memorize a song…?_

He voiced his question and she just looked at him, before glancing back towards the younger kids.

"You just listen to it enough times and you find that you start to hum it."

He glanced back to see Fumie and Ako chasing each other, nodding slightly before trying to think of a song that he could try and hum.

 _There are certainly a lot to choose from…_

The supervisor was always trying to find more kids movies that they could watch. There seemed to be a lot more adult movies being made than kids ones now days…

 _What about the one from that cat TV show…_

Mika started to hum, feeling a bit self-conscious since it had only been a while since he had started. It seemed to be that he would mess up a line and then go back and correct himself.

 _It's a start…_

* * *

 **So first off, I'm going to apologize that I didn't update on Friday. I had completely forgotten that we were going camping that weekend and the place that we were at didn't have any internet. So that's why I didn't update, but I hope you all had a great Fourth of July weekend! So this one's short, which makes me sad, but some ideas I can write longer and others not so much… I hope you all have a great week until the next update! :)**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	11. Illegal

**Shadechu Nightray:** Yes they will. :) This one's a little more humor based since the way I started the chapter. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Illegal

Mika had never thought that for once in his life he would be doing something illegal. Even if it was for his family, he still found it hard to believe.

 _But I have to... if I don't…_

He glanced away from his task to see his family looking at him slightly worried. He let out a breath before looking back towards the locked door. He had used up more paper clips trying to get the door unlocked than he thought he would and he knew that they might soon run out if the current course continued.

 _Why did the supervisor have to misplace the key…?_

Even if the situation wasn't as dire for the older children, it was for the younger. If given enough time, things could get messy…

 _But why do the paper clips have to break…_

He glanced down at the steadily growing pile of broken paper clips and the smaller one with ones that he could use. It seemed to be that he got to a certain point in trying to break the lock when each paper clip decided to break. He bit his lip in frustration as he picked up another and inserted it into the lock. He carefully began to turn the paper clip in various ways, and different directions. He felt a few times where the paper clip would get stuck and not continue going into the lock, but it eventually continued when Mika changed direction or eased up on the pressure.

He felt his hopes soar as the paper clip didn't get stuck at the same point that it always did. He knew that he had to be close to the end for as long as he had been trying to get the door to open. He slowly inched the paper clip further into the lock, feeling success run through him when he heard the click that signified that the door had now been opened.

 _Finally…_

Mika stood up and smiled back at his family, noticing that Akane was smiling as well.

"It's finally open." He stated before he quickly moved out of the way as the younger children charged towards what was the locked room. He laughed a bit at this and went to stand over by Akane, who was telling the younger children to wait in a line.

"Thanks Mika." He beamed over at Akane as she said this, before looking back towards the now open bathroom.

"It's not a problem. Although I do feel weird about it since it is technically illegal…" He glanced over to see Akane give a thoughtful look before she shook her head.

"Well as long as you don't try to break into anything that isn't ours, I think you'll be fine…" Mika nodded, thinking back to the book that he had read a few weeks previously on illegal activity. It stated the different crimes that people could get in trouble for and ways to avoid this.

 _At least the bathroom's open…_

* * *

 **So although this one's short, I rather kind of liked it. It adds a bit more humor to this fanfiction rather than some of the angst we've seen with Mika's backstory so far. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Just to let you all know, I probably won't be able to update next week since where I am going won't have internet. Other than that though, expect another chapter on the 20** **th** **. Enjoy the rest of your week!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	12. Fever

**Shadechu Nightray:** Sorry for the wait. That idea would be cute also, but I basically think that about all ideas that involve the family. :)

* * *

Fever

 _Why do I… feel so warm?_

Mika used his hand to shield his eyes from the bright light that suddenly entered the room. Hearing footsteps, he lay there for a moment, trying to reorient himself.

"Mika, it's time to get up!" He heard Akane's cheerful voice say, and he moved his hand a bit. Seeing her figure, although the bright light was making it a bit darker around the edges, he closed his eyes again.

 _At least let me lay here for a few more minutes; I'll be fine then…_

Despite his thought, he knew that what he was feeling wouldn't just go away. He had gotten sick before and most of the times he just had to wait it out until it was gone, but this one was new.

 _This one's different…_ He thought with a shudder before he felt a hand around him arm pulling him up. He dropped his arm away from his eyes to see Akane looking at him in shock and worry.

"You're really warm…" She whispered before pushing him back down onto the bed, moving to cover him back up. She glanced over towards the open blinds, before going over to close them, with Mika silently trying to move away from the blanket.

 _It's too warm…_ He thought, squirming a bit before deciding to just push the blanket off. He looked over at Akane to see her give him a disapproving look.

"It's better if you keep that on…I think…" She stated before pulling the blanket back over Mika. He noticed her bite her lip in frustration before looking back at the door that led out of their shared bedroom. He knew that she must be torn between whether to stay with him or to go look after the younger kids.

 _Which must mean that the supervisor is gone… again…_

The women who looked over them seemed to be gone every time something bad happened…

"You can go take care of the others. I'll be fine in a moment." He tried to smile towards her to reassure her that he would be fine, but she just frowned down at him.

"The others are eating breakfast so they should be fine for a bit…" She looked back towards the door and then Mika again, before getting up and walking out. Mika lay there, trying to decide whether he should go help her.

 _I don't want to get anyone else sick but she also needs help taking care of them…_

He decided a moment later when he pushed the blanket back away from him and sat up. Immediately he noticed the dizziness that hit him and he had to wait a moment before leaning against the bedframe to get up. He closed his eyes, trying to maintain balance before he let out a breath and looked towards the open door.

 _I just need to make it out of here and then everything should go back to normal…_

He figured that if he was near his family, then the sickness might go away.

 _At least if I'm with them, I won't be thinking about myself and will be too busy taking care of them…_

He smiled, taking a few steps before the dizziness was back. He tried shaking his head, before stumbling over towards the wall and leaning against it.

 _Ok, so don't shake your head…_

He closed his eyes and tried to focus on breathing, not on the oppressive heat that seemed to be keeping him trapped. He became confused when it felt like a fog descended upon his thoughts.

 _That's not good…_ He thought before opening his eyes in confusion when he heard a gasp. He saw Akane hurry over towards him, grabbing one of his arms to help support him.

"What are you doing up!?" She asked, carefully leading him back over to the bed.

"I... was trying to help…" He breathed out, finding that the heat was leaving a small bit before it returned again. She helped him to sit down and he couldn't really focus. Everything seemed to be spinning…

 _Am I up or down…?_

He tried to shake his head again to clear his vision but that only made it worse. Closing his eyes, he felt the blanket be moved back to cover him again.

"I explained it to the others, so they should be fine for now. I told them to come and get me if they needed help with anything."

He felt another weight come down on the bed, which must have meant that Akane was sitting next to him. He nodded, wincing when he felt a headache beginning to form. He felt a hand touch his head before it quickly pulled away.

"You're still warm…" Akane muttered, before he heard her move something on the nightstand. He opened his eyes to see a cup in front of him, with Akane holding the straw towards his mouth.

"I figured you might want a drink since you feel so hot… maybe that will help…" He carefully took a small sip, before leaning back on the bed. He closed his eyes, intent on falling asleep so that Akane would stop worrying and could go take care of the others.

"Wait! Mika don't fall asleep!" He opened his eyes in confusion, seeing Akane's worried face bent over him. She blushed a bit at her outburst before she started fiddling with the end of her braid.

"Well… I mean… we don't know what might happen if you do…" She whispered, before shooting a glance towards the door when they heard laughter. She frowned before looking back down at Mika. He knew that she still must be torn, before he saw her gaze soften.

"If I leave again, you'll just try to follow me, won't you?" She asked and Mika went to protest before he stopped himself, knowing that she was right. He wouldn't just wait here while everyone else was out there and things needed to be done…

He felt surprise enter him when she lay down next to him, a light blush on her face.

"This way I can make sure you stay in bed…" She stated, not meeting Mika's gaze. "But it's not weird because we're family!" She said quickly after that, the blush deepening a bit.

He felt his face heat up a bit more but he couldn't tell if it was because of the situation they were in or because he was sick…

 _Ok…_

He closed his eyes, reminding himself not to fall asleep. It was a few minutes later that he noticed that soft breathing was coming from beside him. He opened his eyes and looked over at Akane. The blush was gone from her face and she was peacefully sleeping, her head just barely on the pillow. He couldn't help the smile that made its way onto his face.

 _You tell me not to fall asleep and yet here you are…_

He closed his eyes again, the sound of her breathing making him tired as well. He tried to fight the sleep that tried to envelope him before he gave up, surrendering himself to the darkness.

* * *

 **So I'm back! Sorry about that whole 'not being able to update for a week thing'. I hate it when I don't have any internet to use to give you guys chapters. Either way, please let me know what you thought of the chapter! I hope you enjoyed!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	13. Hide-and-Seek

**WhiteWinterStar:** I'm glad you like the story! :)

* * *

Hide-and-Seek

Mika knew this was just a game, but he couldn't help getting excited.

The objective of the game was simple enough. Someone would be 'it' while the other kids would go and hide in various places around the building. If all of the kids were found, then the one found first would be the next 'it' before the game started all over again.

 _At least no one's found me yet…_

His hiding spot was fairly simple and yet no one seemed to look there. It was a place he knew well from when he was at this old house, his safe place: the closet. He had bundled all the clothes in the closet over him, leaving a small hole so that he could breathe and look out to make sure he hadn't been found. There had been one incident where he had almost been discovered, but he had stayed still enough that Taichi hadn't thought to look under the clothes.

 _Which is good for me…_

He knew Akane would be the only one to think to look here. After all, she had known about his 'safe place' since he had told her when they talked. He had been waiting here for a while now and his muscles were starting to get cramped…

 _How long has this game been going on…?_

He allowed himself to relax a bit, leaning back further into the clothes so that it looked a bit more like just a pile of clothes rather than someone tensed up hiding up the pile. He breathed out a sigh. He knew he would have to think of a different place once he was found, but so far it seemed like it might be a while before Taichi found him…

 _If the game takes too long, will Akane come find me?_

He closed his eyes, letting out another quiet sigh. Most likely she would, he reasoned with himself. If enough time passed, they would most likely restart the game.

 _Maybe next I'll hide under the bed…_

* * *

Mika blinked awake when he felt a hand shake his shoulder. Letting out a yawn, figuring that he must have fallen asleep, he looked up at the figure in front of him. Akane was standing there smiling down at him.

"Found you." She stated before laughing at his tired expression. "You fell asleep, didn't you silly?" She asked, trying to be quiet so the other kids wouldn't find them.

"No…" He stated before lying back down in the clothes, slightly wishing he could fall back asleep. Akane only laughed at this before ruffling his hair, with him trying in vain to make her stop, but being too tired; there wasn't much he could do.

"The game was changed to see who could find you and then you would be it, so I guess since I found you, then I win." She stated before letting out another small laugh. He felt himself smile at this despite trying to act irritated.

"That's not fair. You knew where I would be…" His smile grew when she crawled in and sat down beside him, trying to shake him awake.

"I'm just resourceful." She stated and Mika couldn't help laughing at her response. He moved a bit, feeling the clouds of sleep leave him a bit. He started to crawl out before turning to hold his hand out towards her when he was standing up.

"Then I guess we'd better start a new round." He stated before walking towards the main room, with Akane following him shortly.

* * *

 **A shorter chapter this time but still cute in my opinion. I hope you all had a great week while I was away, and since Monday as well. This fanfiction is coming to an unofficial close in a few chapters. By 'unofficial' I mean that when we get to the last chapter I will mark it complete but that doesn't mean that I won't update if I get an idea. :) Which means you guys get more chapters as I think of them and this story is marked 'complete' even though it isn't. Please review to let me know what you thought this chapter! Have a nice weekend!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	14. Shopping

**WhiteWinterStar:** I agree there. The things Mika does that make us all go 'aww'. :)

* * *

Shopping

It was something entirely new for Mika. He hadn't been allowed out of the house even if his parents left, so he felt a bit shy but excited when they entered the grocery store.

 _There are just so many people…_

He heard Akane laugh at his expression, halfway torn between hiding and running down the many aisles in the store.

"Come on silly."

She grabbed his hand, before dragging him down one of the aisles. He looked back to see the supervisor smile at them before walking down one of the many aisles labeled 'food'. He almost ran into Akane as she stopped suddenly, but he was able to stop himself in time. He looked in confusion at Akane, wondering which aisle she had taken then down.

 _And what's our 'assignment'…?_ He wondered before he glanced around at the multiple shelves in wonder. There were various toys and books scattered about, with so many different designs and types for each.

"We're supposed to pick out some new toys for our home, remember?" Akane asked him as she went over to look at some dolls. He shook his head, a bit embarrassed. He had fallen asleep on the ride over here, so he must have missed the conversation.

He instantly gravitated towards some of the 'boy toys' as Akane liked to call them. There were small cars, wooden and foam swords, as well as others. He pondered on what he should get.

 _Maybe a few of each… then we could all have something new to play with…_

He started to grab some of the cars, before becoming confused when more models of the cars appeared. He looked in confusion at all the colors of the same type of car.

 _But where do I go from here? It's all most like they want you to collect them all…_

He frowned before glancing down at the few that he had grabbed. He shrugged before walking over to the other toys, intent on grabbing a few more to buy.

 _Even if we don't get them all, it'll be fun to play with the ones that we do…_

He glanced over at Akane, smiling a bit when he saw the big smile on her face as she shifted through the various toys.

 _They'll love them, no matter what we pick…_

* * *

 **So another pretty short chapter which I wish was longer but then again… there's only so long I can drag out shopping when I haven't been to a toy store in a while. Either way, I still hope you enjoyed! After this chapter we have a pretty long one and then a really short ending chapter (the only reason for that is because AnimeWolfGirl9 has included it in a fanfiction she's making so clearly I didn't want to copy the exact thing). :) Please let me know what you thought in a review! Until Friday readers!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	15. Tradition

**Note: This chapter was actually Shadechu Nightray's idea; I just put it in here since it was something she wanted to see. :) I hope it's everything you wanted it to be!**

* * *

Tradition

Mika hadn't quite known what to think when Ako had come up and given him a kiss on the cheek. He was used to affection by now, often being the one to give it to his younger siblings, but she seemed… different somehow. She had been trying to hold in laughter and he couldn't quite figure out why. When he had asked, all he had gotten back were more giggles and _"Its tradition Mika~"_

 _Tradition huh?_

This had been happening all day now so he could only figure that something had happened while the kids were decorating for Christmas. He briefly wondered if it was just all the excitement that was being passed around but then shrugged it off. A lot of the younger kids had been here longer than he had and he didn't know what their 'traditions' were yet.

 _I guess I'll figure it out sometime…_

The curious thing was though that Akane hadn't mentioned anything about any traditions to him.

 _Which is strange considering she normally tells me these things…_

He glanced back towards the kitchen, where Akane was preparing some of the food. He had been helping her for a while before he had nearly caught something on fire and had instead been sent to check on the younger kids.

 _At least no one could get hurt… but wouldn't she have told me while we were talking earlier?_

He shook out his thoughts before focusing back on the one thing that had been puzzling him. Ako had been the fourth of his siblings to kiss him today, before being Chihiro, Fumie, and even Taichi although the boy had seemed embarrassed about it…

 _I wonder why…_

It was no secret that little things like affection made Taichi nervous and embarrassed at times.

 _But it was almost like he was obligated to do so… I wonder if the other kids talked to him about it._

Kouta had yet to perform the 'tradition' but Mika knew that it would happen sooner or later. He thought back to the previous days, when they had started decorating with confusion.

 _But why now? Why not then?_

He paused outside the room that Akane was supposed to meet him in, the one that they had been 'assigned' to decorate. He figured that he would ask her when she came but he felt apprehensive about it.

 _What if she doesn't want to tell me? Wouldn't she have told me if it was important?_

He shook off his worry. Even if Akane didn't tell him what it was, maybe the supervisor could…

 _She was helping the younger kids decorate earlier… maybe she told them something…?_

He was about to head off and look for Akane, his curiosity getting the better of him, before she came around the bend, some boxes in her arms. He quickly moved to take some of them from her, noticing how she struggled with the weight. She smiled gratefully at him before entering the room, with him following her a second later.

"Hello Mika. How are the others?" Akane asked as she set down her boxes and began to open some of them. He followed her example, not quite sure what to do because his family hadn't ever decorated for this holiday before.

"They're all really excited." He glanced over at her to see her nod, concentrating on the task in front of her.

"And are you?" She asked and Mika could feel that bubbling excitement that came whenever he tried something new.

He nodded before she smiled, laying some of the decorations out before getting out tape. She moved towards the wall to begin hanging up some garland on the nails that were already positioned in the wall and Mika went to grab the other side of the strand.

"So…" He began, holding up the section to make sure that it hung right before Akane slipped it in place with the nail. "The other kids have been acting… strange today." He knew the word didn't fit but he couldn't really think of anything else that could describe it. Akane looked over at him, concern in her eyes.

"Really? They seem fine to me…" She trailed off before backing away to observe their work, nodding a second later to confirm that it was done right. He frowned at this before deciding that he might as well just ask.

"They've all been really… affectionate." He started and Akane looked over at him in confusion. "Well… that is to say… they've all given me a kiss today... well except Kouta but I'm pretty sure from the way they're acting that it'll happen sometime today."

He looked towards her to see confusion in her eyes.

"What's so strange about that? Families kiss each other all the time…" he paused, not quite sure that he had explained it correctly.

"Well… they were all laughing and then told me that it was 'tradition'…" He trailed off seeing her confusion before her eyes suddenly lit up when she looked towards his hair. She started to laugh and confusion hit him and he looked behind him to see if there was anything there.

 _Nothing but the garland so what…?_

Akane took a step towards him before reaching up towards his hair and pulling something out. He felt a small prick of pain before she held an object up for him to see. It was small leaves that were tied in the middle with a red bow. He stared at it in confusion, wondering how the object had gotten in his hair. Come to think of it, he had seen objects like this throughout the halls, posted normally at the top of doorways…

"What is…?" He trailed off, not quite sure how to get through his confusion. She giggled before leaning in closer to him.

"It's mistletoe. You're supposed to kiss someone when they are under it. Apparently one got stuck in your hair." She then gave him a kiss on the cheek, her face lighting up in a blush. He could feel that his face was hot as well.

"It is a sort of tradition around here but we've never really been so… forward about it since most of the kids are younger." He nodded, trying to get his face to stop being so red.

"I see…" He trailed off before he leaned close towards her and gave her a small kiss on her forehead. She seemed surprised by this because she could only stare at him in shock for a moment, her face bright red.

"It's a tradition." Mika stated, trying to add some humor into his voice. It must have worked because a moment later, they both began to laugh as they set up the rest of the decorations with the mistletoe that was in Mika's hair being hung by the door.

* * *

 **So it's a little longer this time but not by much. I am fully aware that I was supposed to update on Friday but I got busy so I apologize for that. Also, I may have misinformed you all about when the fanfiction was ending. Right after I posted last chapter, I happened to think of two more ideas. So yeah, you guys get at least two more chapters so far. :) Hope you all have a great week until the next update!  
-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	16. Cooking

**WhiteWinterStar:** I have to agree. :) Here's another one with innocent Mika, although he does accidentally cause a bit of trouble in this one.

 **Shadechu Nightray:** Great ideas once again! I'll have to try and write them when I get time.

 **Note: This one takes place before Panic, since it is early into Mika's permanent stay at the orphanage.**

* * *

Cooking

Mika stared down at the pot in confusion. He had only accepted that this was his new home a few days ago but he still found it hard to come to terms with. Akane had taken it upon herself to try and find Mika's 'special talent' as she liked to call it. So far he had tried different activities but none seemed to be his 'special talent'.

"What am I supposed to do again?" He asked tentatively as he glanced over at Akane who was cutting some vegetables up. She giggled a bit and Mika found that his face heated up a bit.

"See that knob?" She asked and Mika nodded when he looked down on the stove. He tried not to wince at the memories it brought up before he quickly glanced back up at the pot, trying to stifle the unwanted recollections. "You just turn that to make the stove top turn on. The water should boil after a bit."

Mika nodded, but still looked down at the pot in confusion.

 _I've never made something before… is this how it's done?_

He gingerly reached towards the knob and turned it a bit, giving a start as he saw small flames come out of the top. He glanced back at Akane to see her smiling at him.

"Just turn it a little more, alright?"

He nodded again before turning the dial again, watching as the flames and their height increased a bit. He let go of the knob and stared down in the pot, confusion hitting him when nothing seemed to be happening.

"What do I need to do after that?" He asked as he continued to stare intently down at the water. He felt Akane come up from behind him and he turned towards her, seeing her glance down into the pot as well.

"Well… now we just wait for the water to boil…" She snapped her fingers and dragged Mika over to the cupboard. "How about you choose something we can make to go along with the soup?"

Mika stared at the now open cupboard and wondered what would go well with soup. From what Akane had told him earlier, different things went well with different kinds of soup…

 _But what kind of soup are we making again?_

He glanced back at Akane to ask when he noticed that she was back to cutting vegetables. He shrugged, not wanting to bother her, before he turned back around and looked into the cupboard again.

Glancing at the ingredients inside, he quickly decided that sandwiches were probably the best thing to go with. If any of the kids didn't like the soup, then they could eat the sandwiches instead. He pulled out some bread and then went over to the fridge and grabbed some butter and cheese out, laying them all on the counter.

He quickly became confused when he realized that he didn't know where any of the cooking supplies were. He stared around the kitchen for a moment before hesitantly speaking up.

"Hey Akane. Do you know where the supplies are to make sandwiches?" She turned towards him before looking down at the ingredients, her eyes lighting up when she realized what he was talking about.

"Yeah." She didn't say anything more than that but quickly began going to various places in the kitchen and grabbing supplies.

She grabbed a pan, some vegetable spray, and a spatula. She came over towards Mika and laid the supplies out before glancing down at the ingredients. Mika stared down at them in embarrassment. He realized that he didn't have a clue on how to use most of the stuff here, since cooking wasn't a part of his 'old' family's traditions.

"Hey Akane…" He began before cutting off, his face heating up in embarrassment when she let out a small laugh.

"Don't worry. I'll show you."

She carefully picked up two pieces of bread and laid them down on a paper towel before grabbing a knife and buttering the two sides. Then she transferred the bread over to the pan and put a piece of cheese in the middle before walking over to the stove, pausing to check if the water was boiling. Mika followed her, watching carefully so that he would know how to make them too.

 _It's not fair if she does all the work…_

She turned another dial and more fire came from another spot, which she quickly laid the pan on top and stepped back.

"You flip it when it gets brown on one side." She stated, laying the spatula in Mika's hand and nodding towards the pan. Mika nodded back, still feeling a bit confused, and Akane went back to preparing ingredients for the soup.

A few minutes went by with Mika just staring at the sandwich, before he glanced over at Akane and sighed.

 _But how do you know when one side's done?_

He stared down in confusion as smoke began to rise from around the sandwich.

"Umm… Akane?" Mika backed away from the pan when the smoke quickly turned to a burning fire.

She turned around a smile on her face before she quickly saw what was happening. Mika just stood there, not really sure what to do or how to react, while Akane went over and grabbed some water and throwing it on the sandwich while turning off the stove. She sighed and turned back to Mika before letting out a small laugh, which confused him.

"I did the same thing when I first started." He nodded, still feeling confused. He looked at the burnt sandwich and sighed.

 _Well I guess it can't be eaten now…_

Akane came over and guided Mika away, back towards the counter on which he had started.

"How about we just make some uncooked sandwiches for now?" Mika nodded, glancing down at the same ingredients as Akane showed him how to make different combinations and stating what each of their younger siblings liked.

 _I guess this isn't my 'special talent' either…_ Mika thought as he began to prepare the sandwiches, with Akane watching him a moment before going over to finish the soup.

* * *

 **So I just realized that today is Friday and am going to admit that I nearly forgot to post again. Sorry about that to all of you. Would you all be ok if I took a few days to a week next week to try and write/ come up with some more ideas? Since college is getting closer to starting I seem to be having less time to write lately… I hope you all have a great weekend till Monday! Please let me know what you thought in a review!  
-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	17. Unexpected Secret

**WhiteWinterStar:** Thanks for the support! I was able to come up with a few more ideas in the time that I had off from writing this. Hopefully I'll get more when I start college.

* * *

Unexpected Secret

Mika didn't quite understand how his day had come to this. It had been normal up until the time that Akane had asked Mika to watch a movie with Taichi. He had of course agreed and figured that it would be on the boy's favorite ninja turtles, but he didn't realize how wrong he was until the name of the movie played out.

They had created another tent in the middle around the TV, big enough so that the other kids could join if they wanted to. He found it strange that most of the kids had been content with what they were doing at the time, but figured that they would join half-way through.

 _That seems to be the case for most of the movies we watch…_

He now sat in the tent beside Taichi, staring at the screen in confusion and a bit of horror. He glanced over at the younger boy to see if what was on the screen was bothering him at all. When nothing seemed to be given away, Mika leaned closer to his younger brother.

"Taichi, you do realize this is a movie about princesses, right?" He asked and the younger boy turned towards him, excitement in his gaze.

"Yeah! Isn't it going to be awesome!?" Mika stared at his younger sibling for a moment before turning back towards the screen, figuring that he shouldn't ruin his brother's excitement.

 _Despite how… different this is…_

Half-way through the movie, he noticed that no one else had come into the tent yet. He glanced over at Taichi before crawling towards the entrance of the tent to peek out. None of the others seemed to be in sight, which made Mika believe that they had gone into the bedroom.

 _But… why wouldn't they want to watch a movie with us?_

He glanced back over at Taichi when the younger boy grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards his previous spot. Mika only sighed before looking back towards the entrance and shrugging. Despite how he really didn't want to watch this movie, it wasn't right to abandon his younger brother either.

 _I'll just have to put up with it…_

By the end of the movie, Mika was seriously considering that the next time this happened if he could bribe one of his sisters to do it.

 _Ako, Chihiro, and Fumie might not mind but why didn't Akane want to?_

He knew that the older girl was busy a lot of the time but she normally made time when their younger siblings asked something of them…

 _I'll just have to ask her later._

He crawled out of the tent, stopping when Taichi grabbed his hand almost tentatively. He glanced down at the younger boy to see a light blush of embarrassment on his siblings face.

"Thanks for watching the movie with me." Mika smiled down at his brother, before jostling the younger kid's hair a bit.

"No problem. It was pretty… interesting."

He noticed how Taichi's face lit up at the remark and he couldn't help letting out a small laugh when the younger boy gave him a hug and then ran off towards the bedroom. He walked towards the kitchen, where he knew Akane would be from the nice smells emitting from the room.

True to his thinking, Akane was preparing dinner for the rest of the kids. He walked over to help her move some of the plates that they used to eat their food on, with her giving him a grateful smile.

"Hey Akane." She looked up from setting the table to let him know that she was listening before he continued. "Why couldn't you watch the princess movie with Taichi?" He asked and then noticed her momentary pause before he quickly continued.

"I mean, it's not like it's a bad thing, it's just that normally you make time so…" He trailed off upon seeing the light blush on her face.

"Um…" Her face turned a bit redder before she shook her head and smiled. "I've kind of watched it so many times that I could probably reenact the whole movie…"

Mika didn't quite know how to respond to that so he just said "Oh…"

There were a few moment of silence as they continued their task before he heard Akane sigh. He looked over at her to see a melancholy expression on her face.

"Besides…" She began and Mika took a step closer to hear what she said since her voice had lowered. "Happy endings rarely happen in this world let alone can a girl find a guy like that…"

Mika didn't quite know how to respond to that either and he felt partially guilty at the fact that he had heard it when she might not meant to have said it out loud.

"Well…" He began, smiling over at Akane to see a light blush back on her face. "That's not necessarily all true. I mean… we all have each other, so it's like our own happy ending. As long as we're together, everything will be alright."

Akane smiled at this as well before she ran back into the kitchen, appearing a second later with a platter of food. Mika helped her set up before she began to walk back to grab another, stopping just at the door to the kitchen before turning to Mika.

"Hey Mika?" He hummed in response, letting her know that he was listening as he began to set up the silverware. "Thanks."

He glanced over at her to see that the blush was back and he let out a small laugh when she slipped back into the kitchen.

"You're welcome Akane." He whispered, not quite sure if she had heard him but figured he could at least say it. As he continued with his task, with Akane running back and forth into the kitchen, he couldn't help but think about how true his words were.

 _We all came from different places, most of them harder on us than most kids our age._ He glanced towards the bedroom when he heard laughter come from it. _Despite all that, we found each other and are lives are better for it. Just like a happy ending._

* * *

 **So originally this was supposed to be just a small humor one-shot but it turned into this instead, with just a bit of humor tacked on. Thank you so much for giving me the time off to write and I have officially named the 'unofficial epilogue' as Chapter 20 (simply because I hate having to keep changing it each time I come up with another chapter). Since I just started college, updates might be a bit more spaced out and take more time. I'm already feeling a bit stressed and I just started… but hopefully when I find time to write that will change things. Until next time!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	18. Missing

**Shadechu Nightray:** Yep just another one of those crazy ideas I came up with. :)

 **Note: Another one of Shadechu Nightray's awesome ideas put into action. :)**

* * *

Missing

Mika had tried not to panic when he couldn't find Fumie anywhere. Akane had assured him that the girl liked to take walks around outside, which had given him a small amount of reassurance. He had first noticed that the younger girl was missing around story time, which she normally didn't want to miss. He had counted all the kids, noticing that she was missing before going around to various rooms to see if she was there.

He now found himself standing in the kitchen watching Akane cook, glancing out at the door that lead to the backyard every so often.

"I mean… what if she got lost or something?" Mika asked as he paced, sending another worried glance towards the door.

Story time had been done for hours and the young girl still had yet to appear. He even had the other kids on 'Fumie watch' as they were all calling it.

 _What if she's hurt…?_

"She'll be fine. She's been doing this for years now so she knows where to go."

Despite the cheerful tone that Akane was giving Mika, he could still hear some worry in her voice as well. He nodded again before continuing to pace once more, ducking out the door and glancing towards where the front door was, sitting untouched. He bit his lip worriedly before ducking back into the kitchen, sending Akane another worried look before glancing back at the clock.

 _It's going to be dinner time soon…_

"What if she got kidnapped?" He asked feeling more worry and panic building in his chest.

He got a worried glance from Akane at this, the hand that had been cutting carrots slowing before stopping. She glanced back down at the unfinished food once more before walking towards the kitchen door as well.

"Maybe we should go look for her…" She muttered and he followed her out, watching as she rounded up the other kids and told them what they were all going to do. Mika quickly wrote on a note where they were going in case she came back before they did before following the others out the door.

* * *

Mika trudged back to the house, his panic mode still on high alert but too exhausted for him to do anything about it. They asked around and no one had seen the younger girl since earlier that day. The sun had long since begun to sink, making them have to head back despite the situation. The supervisor had said that she would call the police in the morning if the young girl still hadn't shown up.

 _But that doesn't help us now! What if we lose her by just sitting around?_

They all sat on the couch, some of the younger kids reading books although they didn't look to be too into them. Most were staring around, not quite sure what to make of the situation while Mika sat on the couch, worry flowing through him. Every so often he would glance out the door and see the setting sun, it only serving to panic him more.

 _What if she's out there waiting for us to come find her?_

He stood up and began walking towards the door again before he felt a hand grab his hand, holding him back. He glanced behind him to see Akane, worry also on her face but she shook her head.

"You won't be able to see anything in the dark Mika." He nodded before glancing towards the door leading to the backyard.

 _Maybe…_

They hadn't locked the door out there but wouldn't she have come back in by now if she was out there?

"I'm going to look in the backyard again." He stated, moving away from Akane's reach and exiting where they lived.

He could feel the light chill in the air that signaled that it was almost dark. He rubbed his arms a bit before walking to stand in the middle, turning slowly in a circle to see if he could see her. There was only a tree that was blocking the way and he walked towards it.

 _What if she's left out in this cold?_

He shivered again at the thought more than from him actually being cold, quickly walking around the trunk of the tree. Disappointment filled him when he saw that she wasn't there. He glanced upwards at the thick branches of the tree before coming to a conclusion.

 _The one place we haven't looked is in the tree so she might be there…_

He quickly began climbing, almost losing his grip a few times, before he hit his head against something. Rubbing the sore spot, he froze when he saw something move, on the branch opposite of his.

"Mika?" The word came out as a tired one, drawn out by sleep as the figure rubbed her eyes. Mika's heart skipped a beat once he realized who it was. He was just barely able to make out Fumie's shape in the fading light.

"Fumie! Is this where you've been all this time?" He asked, making his way carefully over to her, making sure not to rattle the branch that she was on in case it might cause her to fall.

"Yeah… I climbed up here to get a better view but I guess I must have fallen asleep…"

Mika couldn't help letting out a small laugh at that, his fears quickly fading away now that he had found her at last. He reached out a hand to her, glancing back down through the branches before back up at her.

"Do you think you can make it or do you want me to carry you?" He asked, stifling another laugh as the younger girl stretched, yawning a bit before answering.

"I can make it but thanks." She smiled over at him before he started to climb down, her just in front of him with him being prepared to catch her in case she fell.

 _No telling what might happen if she's still half asleep…_

Luckily they made it down without any problem, with him steadying her with an arm across her shoulders. He could clearly tell that she was still tired despite sleeping all this time from the way that she leaned against him. He let out a small laugh bending down closer to her so that she could hear him better.

"How about we go inside and get you something to eat and then you can go to bed?" She only nodded at this, her head sagging a bit before snapping up as she tried to keep herself awake. Mika supported most of her weight, half tempted to pick her up when she nearly fell once, as they made their way back to the house.

 _Thank goodness it wasn't worse._

* * *

 **So I'm sorry this wasn't out last Friday, like it was intended to be. School so far has caused me a lot of stress and some personal things have come up in my life as well so I don't have a lot of motivation to write right now. Sorry about that. I'll still try to post chapters since I have a few prewritten but I can't promise that it'll be on the same days. Regardless, what did you all think of the chapter? Have a nice day until next update!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	19. Glasses

**Note: Another idea from Shadechu Nightray again.**

* * *

Glasses

Mika bent down towards Chihiro when he noticed that she was sitting on the couch, reading a book. She had been at it all day, with showing no signs of stopping, her just beginning that book earlier that morning and now being a little bit past the halfway point.

"Good book?" He asked, startling her a bit before she glanced back at him nodding. He noticed that she didn't have her glasses on, which made him frown a bit.

 _Did she lose them or something?_

"…a prince who has to choose who to marry by choosing a girl out of thirty-five others."

He noticed that he had missed her explaining what the book was actually about. He smiled down at her, moving towards the seat next to her, wincing when it felt like there was something underneath him. He shifted a bit before settling down again.

"That's really interesting!"

 _It's certainly a different kind of romance than that movie I watched with Taichi…_

"Yeah right! So I was just thinking…" She trailed off when seeing that Mika was glancing around. "Something wrong?"

She asked and Mika gave her another smile before glancing around again.

"I was just wondering where your glasses were." He stated and she gasped, glancing around as well, her eyes squinting with the effort of trying to clear her vision.

"I must have laid them down while I was reading!" Mika stopped her from getting up with a hand on her shoulder, slowly lowering her back down. There was clear worry on her face and he smiled reassuringly at her.

"How about you continue reading while I find them for you?" He asked and she nodded, picking up her book again, her glasses momentarily forgotten again as her eyes lit up at the fact of reading more. He let out a laugh before he stood up and looked around.

 _Now where could she have put them?_

* * *

He searched for the next hour but he still couldn't find a trace of where her glasses were. He had asked the other kids as well as Akane but they hadn't seen the glasses either.

 _Where could they have gone?_

Mika let out a sigh as he walked back towards the couch, feeling a bit dejected at the fact of not finding the glasses. He was about to sit down when he saw something on the couch that made him freeze.

 _Well… I found the glasses but…_

The glasses were sitting on the couch, but the frame was broken in two. He vaguely tried to stop the panic that was building up inside him.

 _She can't see without her glasses! What if she gets hit by a car or something without them!?_

"Uh… um…" He stuttered out glancing at his younger sister as she stopped reading and gave him a hopeful look.

"Did you find them already Mika?" Mika blanched at this, trying not to look towards the broken glasses.

"Uh…" He felt like he couldn't continue but was about to point towards the glasses but a hand on his stopped him.

"Nope but we were able to find the spare." He glanced over at Akane to see her handing another pair to Chihiro, a wide smile on her face. Mika smiled over at her when she turned towards him, a grateful smile on his face.

 _Thank you Akane!_

* * *

 **Happy Labor Day everyone! So this one was meant to be more of a humor one-shot than one that had any real significance in the story's plot. I hope you all have been enjoying the sun today and have a great week until the next post!  
-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	20. My New Family

**Shadechu Nightray:** Glad to know that you liked the ideas. :)

* * *

My New Family

The newest member of their family had arrived on Christmas day, which to Mika was the best gift he could have asked for. Not that he particularly wanted the kid to be in this situation but Mika was grateful that he got to have a new sibling. The others seemed excited as well, and that excitement only grew when they saw their new sibling.

That had been an hour ago and the kid had barely talked to them. That was fine with Mika; he would just have to keep trying. After all, they were siblings from now on. Yu just needed some time to adjust and Mika felt that it was his job to help. It might take time for him to accept his new predicament, but it took time for them all. Mika knew he would be there as much as he could to help his new brother through it.

 _Just like they were for me…_

Yu seemed to be trying hard to make them leave him alone. He always seemed to be wandering off, trying to avoid them as if they were a disease. It had taken a while for Mika to convince some of the younger kids to not pester him as much, to give him a little bit of time.

 _But not too much… he needs love as well…_

Mika had been standing in the doorway to their bedroom, watching as Yu was moving to unpack. It could be just an excuse to avoid them, but Mika knew that eventually Yu would need someone to talk to.

 _I'll be the one he can tell anything to…_

He started to walk towards his new brother with a smile on his face.

 _We're his family now and I won't leave him because families always stick together._

* * *

 **So long story short, I originally was just going to scrap this epilogue because I wasn't quite satisfied with it but AnimeWolfGirl9 told me to keep it. This part will be detailed more in the story that she's coming up with, which is the reason it's so short in the first place. So for now this fanfiction will be marked 'complete' but technically it's not. We've just reached the epilogue although there are still more chapters to come after this one. :) Hope you all enjoyed and see you at the next update!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	21. Camping

**tails the cute fox:** Glad to know that you like the fanfiction! Don't worry about not reviewing every chapter. I'd rather have you review when you have something to say rather than just for ranking up reviews. :)

* * *

Camping

Mika hadn't known what to think when he was dragged into an impromptu camping trip. For one thing, Mika hadn't even known what camping was until Akane had helped to describe it. For another, Mika couldn't really understand why they were doing it in the backyard.

 _I mean, if camping is supposed to be done away from home, then why are we doing it at home?_

The question was one that had bothered him all day but he had never really asked. As they had dragged pillows and blankets outside, as well as clips to use to hold the tent against the fence, Mika had happily helped even though he was confused.

He hadn't really known what people ate on camping trips but supposedly the director had went out and grabbed ingredients to make 's'mores', whatever those were. None of the kids were allowed to see the ingredients until it was time to make them, even though Akane was the one who was helping make the food for later on. Supposedly they all were going to make s'mores together, which made Mika bit worried.

 _None of the other kids know how to cook and I'm not so good at it myself…_

Regardless, he kept his questions to himself and continued to help set up. It hadn't taken long for it to be completed and all that had been left to do was wait for it to get dark. Another popular thing that people did when camping was look at the stars, something that had always mystified Mika.

 _Where do they go during the day?_

He had noticed that the stars only came out at night time, which made him wonder where they were during the day. He had asked the other kids, but they didn't seem to know either. He shook away the thought, figuring that it was best to wait until he was taught the answer. The instructor did give the older kids some lessons but there was little time for them now a days with the responsibility of taking care of the younger kids.

He was currently lying on the grass, staring up at the sky, which was still a bright blue color. He stifled a yawn, glancing at passing clouds, the question of stars still in his head.

 _I mean… they have to still be there…_

* * *

He jolted awake when he felt someone gently shake his shoulder. Rubbing his eyes, he glanced up to see Akane staring down at him, amusement in her eyes.

"You fell asleep again silly." She stated, giving a little laugh as Mika stretched and stood up, blinking a few times to reorient himself.

He glanced at the sky to see that there were just a few rays of fading orange although most of the sky was a dark purple. The air also had a slight chill to it now that the sun had faded away. He tried to see if any of the stars had appeared yet, but shrugged away when he couldn't seem to find any yet.

 _Must not be dark enough yet…_

"It's time for dinner." Akane stated and Mika turned towards her to see a bright smile on her face. She always did get enjoyment out of watching them all eat what she had made. He smiled over at her, walking with her towards where the food had been set up, their younger siblings already seated down at the table.

He was lying on the ground again, except this time he was surrounded by his family. The stars had begun to appear shortly after dinner had been finished, making all the kids lie down and stare up at the glowing objects. The chill was still in the air but all of them had snuggled together, with one big blanket covering them all.

 _Like one big sleepover…_

He smiled at the thoughts, before glancing around at his siblings. Most of the younger kids seemed to be asleep already although Akane was still up, looking at the stars with excitement and wonder. He glanced back up at the stars as well, his earlier question coming back into his mind.

"Hey Akane?" He asked, careful to keep his voice down so as not to wake the rest of his family. She turned towards him and he took this as his sign to continue. "Where do the stars go? During the day I mean."

She stared at him for a moment before back up at the stars and he followed her example. It just seemed so hard to believe that the stars could disappear during the day and come out during the night.

"I don't think they go anywhere." At this, Mika stared over at her in confusion and she let out a little laugh. "What I mean by that is, I think they're always there, we just can't see them."

He nodded at that, looking back up at the stars. The answer made sense and Mika wasn't quite sure why he hadn't thought of it before.

 _I guess that's what we all have each other for. If we could all answer every question that comes into our heads, then we wouldn't need each other._

He glanced around at his family, letting out a small yawn before glancing up at the stars again. He could tell that he was near sleep, but he didn't want the day to end just yet.

 _Maybe we can go camping again another day…_

His breathing evened out and as he closed his eyes, the last thing that he saw being the stars, their light being subdued.

* * *

 **First chapter after the official ending! :) This would have been out sooner but I forgot to post it and some stuff has been popping up in my daily life that leaves little time for writing. Regardless, I still hope that you all enjoyed the chapter! Please let me know what you thought in a review!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	22. Reflection

**Shadechu Nightray:** I can't believe you already have that many chapters translated! O-O Another one is out and I'm interested to see your reaction to it.

 **Unformal Sorrelle:** It's my pleasure. I'm always excited to see how many people like the fanfiction!

 **Kona100:** Thanks for all the praise! Akane is one of those characters that just needs more attention. She really didn't get that much screen time on the show so I'm hoping they do flashbacks as well. Those are always my favorite, the ones where their all interacting as a family, that is. :)

* * *

Reflection

Mika hadn't grown up around mirrors in his old home so when he found some in his new, it captivated him.

 _You can actually see yourself…_

The boy staring back at him had feathery, almost soft looking hair and deep blue eyes. So much so that he couldn't believe that he was staring at himself. The reflection seemed to copy whatever he did as well. If he turned his head to the left, so did the reflection.

 _It's almost like I'm staring at another me…_

"What are you doing Mika?"

He glanced over to see Akane standing in the doorway to the bathroom, a curious yet amused expression on her face. His face became a bit hot and he glanced back towards the mirror before back at Akane, gesturing towards the object.

"It's just…" He trailed off, staring at the girl as she gave him an encouraging nod causing him to continue. "I've never seen myself before."

She stared at him in a bit shock before she walked a bit towards him, standing next to him, which caused an Akane to appear in the mirror.

"Never?" She asked, her face containing a bit of pity and still some shock before it melted away when he nodded.

She glanced at the mirror, prompting him to do the same. They both stared at their reflections for a moment before Mika shifted a bit, the copy doing the same movement.

"It's just so weird…" He whispered and Akane glanced over at him, her head tilting a bit.

"What is?" She asked, before glancing back at the door when a small crash was heard. She frowned before glancing back towards Mika, causing him to look at his reflection again.

"It's almost like you're looking at another one of you, except from another time…" He trailed off when Akane gave a small laugh. His face heated up a bit, causing him to turn away.

 _It's not that silly of an idea, is it?_

He turned back when he felt a hand on his arm, watching as Akane looked at him, amusement fading from her eyes.

"I've never really thought of it that way."

She glanced back at the mirror before squeezing his arm lightly and walking over towards the door. She stopped to look back at him and he glanced out the open door as well. Laughter could be heard from the younger kids, although their view was blocked by the wall that separated the two rooms.

"Just don't stay in here too long ok? Lunch will be ready soon."

She smiled back at him before leaving. He walked over to where she had just been, deciding that he might as well go join the others.

 _I mean, it's not like the mirror won't be here next time I come in._

He felt a smile make its way onto his face at the silly thought that sounded almost like a children's book he had read that had inanimate objects that could talk and move around.

He glanced back at the mirror one last time before heading out, the last image that he saw almost seeming different than what he looked like. He still had the blonde hair and blue eyes but he could have sworn that he looked older and the outfit he was wearing was clad in white and black.

* * *

 **So… what did you all think about the part at the end? I'm curious to find out. :) Just to let you all know, I am currently working on a Halloween chapter for this story but no guarantees that it can be done by Halloween. Figured I'd give you all something to look forward to after this chapter. :) Please let me know what you all thought! Have an amazing week!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	23. Trick-or-Treat

**Shadechu Nightray:** I can believe the translation methods. Hope you like this chapter as well! :)

* * *

Trick-or-Treat

Mika stared in confusion at the bed sheets that Akane was currently cutting holes into. The thing that confused him more than the fact that she was cutting holes in them was what they were for.

"So… this is some kind of event?" He asked and she nodded her head, gently holding up the sheet before cutting the bottom to make it shorter for the younger kids.

"And… kids dress up for this and get free candy?" He tilted his head to the side, trying to make sense of the strange event. The director had said that she would be taking all the kids around town for an event that only happened once each year.

 _But… I don't get why we're doing this…_

"Yeah. We've done it the past few years as well but the sheets from last year got all torn up so I'm making some new ones."

Mika stared at the sheets again, a small frown on his face as he tried to discover what the costume was supposed to be.

"But… what are they? I mean, what are we going as?"

He stared over at where Taichi was already slipping the one that Akane had finished for him earlier before running to chase the other kids around the room. A smile appeared on Mika's face when he heard his siblings' laughter and he glanced over at Akane to see a smile on her face as well.

"We're going to go as a ghost family, remember?" She stated, giggling slightly before holding up a bed sheet to measure Mika as well. He tried not to squirm as she walked around him and eyed the fabric, marking the places to cut it with tape. He let out a pent-up breath as she stepped away and began cutting.

"But… why are we going?" She stopped and stared at him in confusion for a moment, putting down the scissors.

"Because it's fun, Mika." She stepped a bit closer and leaned near his ear. "Plus it'll give the younger kids something to do that's different."

She turned back towards her task and Mika stared at the sheets again.

"They always really enjoy this. It's a tradition." She stated a small laugh coming out of her mouth as she cut another hole.

Akane gave a small nod before bringing the sheet over and draping it on Mika. His vision was clouded for a second as she arranged the sheet and suddenly he could see her. He glanced down at himself to see only white and he lifted the sheet a bit over his head so he could see better. Peeking out at Akane as she measured another sheet, Mika heard laughter to his left and looked over to see the rest of his family. Ako came over to him and lifted the sheet a bit higher, or at least tried to until Mika bent down a bit so that she could reach.

"Ghosts aren't scary as long as you're one of them." She suddenly gave him a hug after saying that, surprising him for a second. He let out a small laugh before hugging her back, pulling away a moment later to grab a sheet and put it over her head. She giggled at his action and lifted hers up as well, some of the sheet catching on her pulled-up hair.

"Now we match." Mika stated, causing another laugh to come from the younger girl. He glanced back at the sheets and then over at a pair of scissors before beginning to help cut as well.

* * *

Mika poured his bag of candy on the blanket they had all set up, adding it to the rest of the pile. The smile had persisted through the night and got even wider when he saw everyone's excited faces.

 _It's the memories that count more than the candy…_

"Look at all the candy we got!" Taichi's exclamation made Mika let out a small laugh, causing Akane to look over at him with a smile on her face as well. She glanced back over when she saw that Taichi was about to grab a piece of candy, causing a small frown to appear on her face.

"Now Taichi." The brown haired boy cringed when his name was said, a sheepish look on his face. "Remember what I said earlier?" Akane asked, waiting patiently for their younger brother to answer. The boy let out a sigh, twiddling his fingers while glancing down at the carpet.

"That we all would share, right?" The boy looked up at his older siblings hopefully and Mika saw the beaming smile back on Akane's face. The two older siblings were always trying to teach their younger siblings right from wrong but it wasn't until lessons like this that they actually got to see whether or not it had sunk in.

"Right!" Mika glanced around at his other siblings, seeing Akane do the same. "We're going to divide up the candy so it's even and everyone gets a fair amount."

Mika watched as Akane began to divide up the candy before getting up from his spot and walking towards the bedroom.

* * *

"That was pretty nice of you earlier Mika." Akane whispered from where she was over on her bed. The younger children had gone to sleep shortly after eating a few pieces of candy, with Akane making sure they didn't eat too much that they would get sick.

 _I thought she had already gone to sleep…_

Mika sat up a little and focused on Akane's form, the little light coming from the hallway behind the closed door just enough for him to make out her dark shape.

"Yeah well, they were all so excited that I thought it would be better if they got the rest. Plus, it's not like there's not going to be more candy."

He shrugged, his feet sliding towards the floor a bit, dangling just above the ground. He heard the quiet laugh that she gave before seeing her shape move towards him, a second weight being added to the bed a moment later.

"Well no matter what way you look at it, it was still nice." He felt her shift her weight a bit closer, leaning her head on his shoulder. There were a few moments of silence in which he thought that she had fallen asleep before she moved, sitting back up.

"Hey Mika." She stated, causing him to glance over at her dark form once again.

"Yeah, what is-?" Whatever he was going to say next was cut off when something was shoved lightly in his mouth. It took him a moment to identify the substance before he realized what it was, his surprise dulling the taste.

 _Chocolate…_

He had only had this flavor once before, it being the flavor of the cake that Akane had made him for his first birthday here. He glanced over at her in surprise, noticing the small smile on her face.

"Despite you saying that you didn't want any, I thought you might like this one."

He felt his face heat up a bit before he swallowed the melted substance.

"Thanks Akane." He stated, watching as she nodded before getting up a second later and going back towards her bed. She laid down a moment later, prompting him to do the same. There were a few minutes before he heard her soft breathing, with his family's breathes soon lulling him to sleep as well, his dreams being of the good times with his family.

* * *

 **I'm sorry this wasn't out on Halloween like I had planned it to be. I had actually prewritten about half of the chapter before finally getting back to it today. Just a lot of stuff in my life has been preventing me from writing lately. The next chapter might be a cute Thanksgiving one if I can solidify the idea in my head into writing. :) So first off, how did you all like the chapter? Please let me know since I'm curious on how I did. I don't have much experience with trick-or-treating so that's why I skipped the actual part where they went around and got their candy. Second, has anyone watched the second season yet? I started but since I use Hulu I have to wait each week to get the latest episode (which is actually the one prior to the one that came out on Saturday). Have a great week everyone!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


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